Research
by castlenova
Summary: Gillian is having accounting problems. Cal is being a pain in the ass. This is what ensues.
1. Chapter 1

Gillian Foster was frustrated. She'd come into Cal's office to go through the accounts with him because something wasn't adding up and she couldn't find it. She was pretty sure it had something to do with him and his tendency to be so flippant with the company finances. But since she'd come in he'd managed to evade her questioning quite admirably and was now holding her off for a moment while he looked up something on his computer.

After five minutes of waiting Gillian realised he wasn't looking up anything at all.

"What are you doing?" she asked but he seemed reluctant to stir from his concentration. Without drawing his eyes from the screen he replied,

"What?"

"What are you doing?" she repeated, slowly and more condescending.

"Repetition. Love-One." He smirked as he clicked the mouse. Gillian raised an eyebrow, thoroughly confused.

"What?" She asked again, her tone raising and he finally lifted his head at the sound of an apparently angry Gillian. He raised an eyebrow, innocent face in place.

"Sorry, what?" Gillian was about to ask about the previous exchange but thought better of it.

"What are you doing?" she pointed at the computer screen. He glanced at it then looked back at her.

"Research." The corner of her mouth curled up in contempt and he pointed at it, raising an eyebrow, letting her know he'd seen it. She sighed, leaning back in her chair, kicking her feet onto the corner of his desk, right in his eyeline. She noticed him flinch but he covered himself pretty well.

"Research my foot" she said irritably. This time Cal did look up, taking in the sight of her long les draped across his desk.

"Ok. Anything else you want me to research while I'm down there?" She looked up at this, his eyes catching hers and the glint becoming all too evident in his. She smirked and decided to play along.

"Not right now. I'm sure you've enough to delve into on the computer." She flicked through the pages of accounts and came to another column with a blank gap and she bit the inside of her cheek. If Cal noticed, he ignored it.

"What, this? Nah, I've read it all before." She dropped the accounts on the desk.

"Cal! You're supposed to be helping me find out why our accounts aren't balancing, not reading research from ten years ago!" She couldn't hide the anger in her voice now. He was wasting hr time and having a laugh about it. Did he not realise she had better things to be doing? He held up his hands in the surrender style just as she was about to start again.

"Gill, luv. Calm down. I'm wracking my brains luv, really I am. You know me, I remember better when I'm thinking about something completely different." This explanation seemed to calm her. She knew what he was saying was true. She'd seen it so many times. He'd be trying to figure out a suspect and suddenly he'd remember where he'd left his phone or the remote for the video link. She nodded in acceptance and picked up her files again. He just managed to suppress a grin as he watched her. He looked around him, sighing loudly. She dropped the file from her face.

"What now?" He shook his head, shrugged, 'it's nothing'. She dropped the file.

"Cal…" she said in that warning tone. She wondered if he'd remembered where the extra funds had been spent. She also wondered if they were either stupid or illegal.

"Well, your rant's gone and killed my interest in this research." He pointed at the screen sheepishly.

"Find some more."

"I have but I don't think you'll appreciate it." She looked over the file; it hid the rest of her face. She raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well, you told me to research your foot." He looked down at it and shrugged. "I've done that. Your feet aren't that interesting luv. Anything else you want me to…delve into, while I'm down here." Gillian dropped the file to see him grinning like a Cheshire cat. She swallowed moan of annoyance and shook her head.

"In your dreams, Cal."

"Well, you should know. You _were _there." Gillian smirked, really quite pleased with the attention but it was getting her nowhere on her accounts. She stood up, gathering her papers up in her arms. She leaned across the table, knowingly giving Cal and eyeful down her top. She reached and pushed the power button on his computer. He hadn't even noticed because his eyes were fixated down her shirt. Straightening up, she cleared her throat and he snapped out of his leering.

"When you remember what you did with that extra funding, put it on a memo and send it to me." She turned and walked towards the door just as Torres entered, her intention to ask Lightman for what was effectively a consult. Cal decided to have one last bit of fun before Gillian scarpered.

"Hey Foster? If I be a good boy and find out where the finances are mucked up….can I continue that research I was telling you about?" Gillian looked back at him from the door, spotting the microsecond of a smirk in his face. She didn't spot the glint in his eye but Torres did. There was something going on here. She glanced back at Foster.

"We'll discuss broadening our horizons later." Gillian said simply and Cal's face contorted into a smirk that he didn't even try to hide. He watched as she walked out before turning his attention to Torres.

"Yes Torres?"

"Was that glee I saw?"

"Yep." He smirked. She frowned.

"So exactly what kind of research gets you grinning like that?" She had a fair idea she already knew the answer but was unprepared for his response.

"Well, you know the way Foster did a lot of research and work on virtual reality psychology programmes?" Torres frowned again. This wasn't the deflection she'd expected. What made it worse was the fact that he was such a good liar, his face showed no signs of deception.

"We, Ria Torres, are getting a really big computer game."

_I'm afraid of the ending of this being a bit stupid. Anyway, R+R_


	2. Chapter 2

Cal Lightman felt like he was walking on springs. He'd purposely waited until after 6 when he knew Foster would have calmed down on her workload and the rest of their staff would mostly have vacated the office. While they'd all have insisted how much they loved their jobs, Cal knew very few of them were enthusiastic about staying after the conventional leaving time.

He bound along the corridors, carrying a thin folder in his hand and wearing a grin that was sure to annoy the heart and soul out of Gillian when he walked through her door. He knocked but didn't wait for a response, simply walking in, finding Gillian facing her computer with a few files in front of her and a coffee to the left of her. Half full. Cal gulped. She was fuelling up for a late night. Maybe the accounts were more buggered than he thought. She looked up wearily when she saw him.

"Yes Cal?"

"I found it," he said, holding up the file. She looked at him through tired eyes.

"Found what?"

"Your missing finances." She looked at him, quizzically and he handed the file to her. She opened it up and thumbed quickly through the pages. Frowning she looked up at him.

"What is this?" Cal sat down, very pleased with himself.

"I figured after we helped GI Joe sort himself out that we should really have one of those virtual reality things on site here." A smile ghosted across Gillian's face.

"I thought you didn't agree with sentient technology."

"Well it wasn't exactly sentient. It had Loker manning it, who by the way, we're not allowing near it because he'll treat it like a big computer game." He grinned and Gillian shook her head.

"I thought you proved it didn't work." He looked at her and she raised an accusatory eyebrow. He shook his head.

"I never said that. It only worked to a certain point that time because the lie was being perpetrated by more than just one person…"

"Lies always are." Cal swallowed hard before joining his hands together at the finger tips.

"Alright, so it wasn't flawless. But, that figure there, allows for the hiring of two research assistants to work on perfecting the technology. And better than that, that's all we're paying because yours truly here is loved so much by the DOD that they've decided to invest in the advancing of the technology." He smiled triumphantly and noticed the impressed look on Gillian's face.

"How much?" Cal shook his head.

"It's a secret."

"Two?" Cal pointed his finger to the sky.

"Three?" Cal lowered the finger a little. Gillian sighed and shook her head, giving up. She'd get it out of him later when he was finished acting like a 12 year old who'd just been given something his sibling hadn't. She glanced at the figure in front of her and the finance files she had up on the computer, typing in the figure and hitting the 'total' button. Cal watched in silence and was relieved to hear a happy sigh of relief from her lips. She sat back in her chair and took a sip of her coffee. He glanced at her.

"You want something stronger than that luv?" Gillian smirked.

"Believe me Cal, nothing is stronger than that." He laughed, wondering how many spoons of coffee she'd laced the water with.

"You planning a late night or something?" She shrugged.

"I'm behind on paperwork. Very behind. I knew I shouldn't have left early last week…" Cal stood up suddenly, halting her mid sentence. She looked at him as he walked around the desk to stand in front of her. Leaning down, he grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. The close proximity to him made her startle a little and he smirked, letting her know he'd noticed. Holding her still, his hands on her arms he spoke.

"Go home. Have a glass of wine. Watch a film. Forget the paperwork for one night. Tell you what, I'll take it home over the weekend and do it instead. You're working too hard luv." She smiled at him, touched by his offer. She brought her hand to his chest trying to push him back.

"Cal, you hate paperwork." He shrugged.

"Ok, I have a better idea…" he trailed off, waiting to see if she was listening and she nodded to show that she was.

"You take the paperwork…" She scowled at him but he held up a hand to show that he was going to continue. "You take the paperwork. I'll get the bottle of scotch from my office. We go to your house and we both do it. The paperwork, that is." Gillian smiled, raising an eyebrow at his last remark before nodding.

"Ok. I won't sleep for hours after this coffee anyway. And I saw that." Cal's lip had involuntarily twitched, thinking of something else that would stop her from sleeping. He loosened his grip on her arm but didn't release her. He seemed to be thinking. Finally he looked at her again.

"If we get the paperwork finished early, can we discuss that research I was telling you about earlier?" Gillian looked at him, a look he couldn't quite decipher, crossing her face. It was something between flattered and proud. Pursing her lips, she leaned in to him, her lips brushing off his ear. He closed his eyes to concentrate on not making a fool of himself under her touch.

"Basic fact-finding or deep investigation?" she almost whispered it and Cal thought his legs would buckle under the tickle at his ear.

"Deep investigation. I know all the basic facts…" he murmured back into her ear, his lips nipping at the lobe as he did. He could have sworn he heard a light whimper from her and he took his chance to slide his hands down her arms onto her hips.

"Ok" she said, "I'm very good at finding new angles to come at things from…" she grinned as she mirrored his action and caught his earlobe between her teeth, this time, drawing a hissing of breath from him. As he did, he drew back from her to look at her face, mischief framed all over it. He grinned at her, before pulling her into him, their lips crashing together as Cal turned her slightly to push her against the desk. His hands lifted her thighs up as he placed her on the desktop. Suddenly she pushed him away. He looked at her, annoyance and a little bit of hurt on his now so readable face that it was scary to think he was the best liar in the state.

"This office isn't research friendly," she said and he grinned, stepping into her again.

"I think this desk is a perfectly good worktop." He kissed her again, trying his best to push her back onto the surface but she was having none of it. She pushed him away again, standing up off the desk and gathering her files.

"Some other time," she said winking and walking towards the door. Cal frowned as he followed after her.

"Gillian Foster, are you propositioning me to sex on your desk?" She stopped at the doorway to look at him.

"Problem?" He paused for a minute as if thinking it through.

"Can we have sex on mine as well?" This time Gillian paused, as thought thinking it out.

"Yeah, that sounds fair." Grinning, he snaked an arm around her and together they left. There was lots of research to be done.

OXOXOXO

_THE END_

_Just a little drabble. Hopefully more substantial stuff up soon._


End file.
